Graeme’s swipe at Ashley in his Strictly Swann song
CRICKETER Graeme Swann took a cheeky swipe at rival Ashley Roberts as she defeated him in the Strictly dance-off last night.
Swann put up a brave but doomed fight when he was pitted against the former Pussycat Doll, who has gained dancing experience throughout her pop career.
She has topped the judges’ leaderboard almost every week, but BBC insiders say Ashley, 37, is not as popular with viewers because of her professional advantage.
Many viewers think only amateurs should be chosen.
Swann, who was unanimously voted off by the judges, admitted he could not compete with Ashley.
She and partner Pasha Kovalev received a perfect 40 score last week and followed up at the weekend with 39.
After he became the ninth celebrity to be eliminated, Swann joked: “Secretly I’ve had 25 years of ballroom experience but I kept that to myself,” adding: “No, I was a novice coming in to this.”
The father of three said the judges were right to save her, quipping: “I’d have voted for Ashley and Pasha as well. I can’t quite believe I was put against them to be honest. I would have been so embarrassed if I’d got through instead of her – she’s an incredible dancer.
“Let’s face it, when you get down to the nitty-gritty of this competition, I was on borrowed time – unless I learned to fly or something I wasn’t going past here.”
The judges all preferred Ashley’s samba to Swann’s quickstep. Craig Revel Horwood said it was a “no brainer” while Darcey Bussell said Ashley and Pasha had been “more technically proficient”.
Bruno Tonioli agreed: “No disrespect but it’s evident. Overall much, much stronger on every level – come on.”
Swann gave credit to his professional partner Oti Mabuse, 28, for making him “fall in love with this whole dance nonsense”.
Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman, 25, and her partner AJ Pritchard, 24, were bottom of the leaderboard but remained in the contest.